Drying stove comprising relatively rotatable annular walls



July 22, 1947. R, B, BLOORE l 2,424,213

DRYING STOVE COMPRISING RELATIVELY ROTATABLE ANNULAR WALLS Filed nec. 13, 1943 2 sheets-sheet 1 12a. lla 24, 24 2o 2l y -E-a /6 z/f- /o 2, 2/ /3 .4-- f5 2O figg@ In @ZM ms?,

A Harney July 22, 1947. 2,424,213

DRYING STOVE GMPRISING RELATIVELY ROTATABLE ANNULAR WALLS R, a. BLooRE Filed Dec. 13, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MMI Q legtor, )l u/(j MCI/MAM Attorney.

Patented July 22, 1947 DRYING STOVE COMPRISING RELATIVELY ROTATABLE ANNULAR WALLS Robert Boulton Bloore, Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, assignor to Swinnertons Limited Vulcan Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, England Application December 13, 1943, Serial No. 514,168 In Great Britain February 12, 1943 10 Claims. 1

Much delay and expense is at present caused in manufacture by the length of time which is required for drying, especially in connection with drying Ware in a plastic state in plaster moulds; a single operator may use perhaps seven or eight hundred moulds before the articles in the first moulds are in a fit state to be removed so that the moulds can be returned to the operator to be used again. A drying stove has therefore to be of large capacity to accommodate these moulds, and each operator usually has had an assistant who takes the moulds with the plastic articles contained therein from the operator and places them in the drying stove, bringing back to the operator for re-use the empty moulds after the dried articles have been removed from them. This assistants labour is therefore unproductive but without it the operators own output would be reduced. Attempts to overcome this objection by the use of a rotary or travelling structure for the goods, as in the dobbin type of stove, have to contend with the difllculty that the height of stove, that is to say the number of tiers of goods, requires that the operator shall reach high and low when placing the goods in the stove, so that if the assistant is not employed the operators output is reduced and fatigue is caused.

The object of this invention is to provide stoves in which more speedy and intensive drying will be achieved.

Another object of the invention is to provide stoves in which' the loading and unloading can be performed without delay and without fatigue.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stove in which the loading and unloading points can be immediately to the operators hand, so that as a consequence an operators maximum output will be considerably increased, both in the case where an assistant is employed and where one is not.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the time taken in drying the goods very considerably, which in turn reduces the number of moulds required for each operator, and economises as a further consequence in the size and cost of the drying stove itself.

Referring to the drawings which form a, part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation through a drying stove.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan on line a-a. of Figure 1.

The stove has a cylindrical inner shell or wall III which is carried by spokes or framing members II, Ila from central hubs or the like I2, I2

mounted on a shaft I3 carried in top and bottom bearings I4, I4. The shaft I3 is provided with a driving pulley I5. The inner shell I0 carries on its outer face any suitable number, as shown three, horizontal ring-shaped or equivalent shelves I6 or other supports each adapted to carry a, single tier of moulds. The outer shell or wall of the stove is in the form of a similar cylindrical member I1, which does not rotate, and is carried by any suitable framework such as the vertical and radial angle-section membersa I8, I9 respectively. 'I'he outer edges of the shelves I6 extend fairly close up to the outer shell I1, and the latter carries the means by which the drying agent is made to act on the goods carried by the shelves, preferably by direct impingement thereon. As shown a number of dat ring-shaped or equivalent air ducts or casings 2B are interspaced between the shelves and proportioned so as to leave adequate but not excessive clearance for the moulds. Thus the stove is divided into a number of confined and substantially enclosed compartments 2|, in the example shown three, the cross-sectional form of each chamber being such as to conne closely a single ring or annular series of moulds. The air ducts 20 are perforated on their undersides '20, preferably by a large number of small perforations, through which jets hot air will be blown directly on to the goods. The air ducts 20 each have a connection at 2lib to the hot air supply pipe 22, and exhaust connections are provided at 23 for the waste heat, communicating with the chambers 2l, part of waste heat can be returned to its source of origin and used again. Felt or other packing 24 is provided on top of the stove to cover the gaps where the rotating and non-rotating parts adjoin. A frontal opening 25 in the outer shell is provided for loading and unloading. The operator would be stationed alongside this opening so that the goods could be loaded and unloaded with a minimum of effort. The air ducts 2D are preferably blanked oii at each Side of the opening instead of being continuous across it, to allow more freedom for unloading and loading. The exhaust connections 23 are preferably arranged up each side of the opening in the form of a vertical conduit with which each duct 20 communicates at each side. This arrangement will minimise heat dissipation through the opening.

The stove shown in the drawings is constructed of sheet metal, but other constructions could be used if preferred. It is also not inherently impossible, although obviously less convenient, to load from the inside instead of from the outside,

3 in which case the outer wall would be rotating and the inner wall fixed. A hood to collect waste heat may be fitted over the opening 25.

It will be apparent that the stoves are equally suitable for drying goods in a semi-,plastic state.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a pottery drying stove the combination comprising a pair of annular and concentrically arranged walls, means for rotating one of the Walls relatively to the other, at least one annular shelf on the rotatable wall, said shelf projecting into the space between the two walls, said shelf being adapted to support the articles to be dried, at least one hot air duct secured to the stationary wall above said shelf, said duct having perforations in the bottom thereof forming jets, said jets being directed towards the articles to be dried, and means for supplying hot air to said duct.

2. In a pottery drying stove the combination comprising a pair of annular and concentrically arranged walls, means for rotating one of the walls relatively to the other, at least one annular shelf on the rotatable wall, said shelf projecting into the spacebetween the two walls, said shelf being adapted to support the articles to be dried, at least one hot air duct secured to the stationary wall above said shelf, said duct having perforations in the bottom thereof forming jets, said jets being directed towards the articles to be dried, saidstationary wall having a charging and unloading opening therein, means for supplying hot air to said duct, and an exhaust connection for waste heat connected to said duct.

3. In a pottery drying stove the combination comprising `a pair of annular and concentrically arranged walls, means for rotating one of the walls relatively to the other, at least one annular shelf on the rotatable wall, said shelf projecting into the space between the two walls, said shelf being adapted to support the articles to be dried, a hot air `supply pipe, an arcuate duct extending clockwise and counterclockwise from said air supply pipe, said ducts being secured to said stationary wall and located above said shelf, said duct-s having perforations in the bottom thereof forming jets, said jets being directed towards the articles to be dried, said stationary wall having a charging and unloading openingltherein located diametrically opposite said supplypipe, said ducts terminating at opposite sides of said opening, and means for blanklng off said ducts at their termihating points.

4.` In a pottery drying stove the combination comprising a pair of annular and concentrically arranged Walls, means for rotating one of the walls relatively to the other, at least one annular shelf on therotatable wall, said shelf projecting into Vthe space between the two walls, said shelf being'adapted to support the articles to be dried, a hot air supply pipe, an arcuate duct extending clockwise and counterclockwise from said air sill)- ply pipe, said Aducts being secured to said stationary wall and located above said shelf, said ducts having perforations in the bottom thereof forming jets, said 'jets being directed towards the articles to `be dried, said stationary wall having a charging and unloading opening therein located diametrically ,opposite said supply pipe, said yducts terminating at opposite sides of said opening, and exhaust connections for waste heat communicating with said ducts, said exhaust connections beinglocated near said opening.

5. In a pottery drying stove the combination comprising a pair of annular and concentrically arranged walls, the outer wall being stationary. the inner wall being rotatable, means for rotating the rotatable wall, a plurality of annular shelves secured inspace relation-one above the other to the outer surface of the rotatable wall, said shelves extending substantially across the space between the two walls, said shelves being adapted to support articles to be dried, and a plurality of air, ducts, corresponding with the number of shelves, secured to said stationary wall, each of saidair ducts extending over a corresponding shelf, each of Vsaldducts having the bottom thereof perforated so as to form jets, means for supplying hot air to said ducts, the jets of hot air from the perforations being concentrated directly on the articles to be dried.

6. In a pottery drying stove according to claim 5 wherein the means for rotating the wall comprises a vertical driving shaft located centrally of the rotatable wall, and a framework connect-` ing the rotatable wall to the vertical shaft.

'7. A pottery drying stove comprising a cylin drical inner wall mounted for rotary movement about a vertical axis, a cylindrical outer wall mounted in a fixed position, said outer wall having an opening therein, a plurality of flat annular hot air ducts carried by said outer wall, means to supply hot air to the ductssaid ducts having perforations on their undcrsides, a plurality of annular shelves carried by said inner Wall, said shelves being adapted to carry goods round the stove so that heat from said perforations will be blown on to them, said inner and outer walls being so disposed in relation to each other and said shelves and ducts as to form a series of substantially enclosed annular chambers superimposed one above the other.

8. A pottery drying stove comprising a cylindrical inner wall mounted for rotary movement about a vertical axis, a cylindrical outer wall mounted in a fixed position, said outer wall havingan opening therein, a plurality of flat annular hot air ducts carried by said outer wall, means to supply h'ot air to the ducts, said ducts having perforations on their undersides, aplurality of annular shelves carried by said inner wall, said shelves being adapted to carry goods around the stove so that heat from said perforations will be blown on to them, said inner and outer walls being so disposed in relation to each other and said shelves and Vducts as to form aseries of substantially enclosed annular chambers superimposed Vone above the other, said ducts extending round said chambers and being blanked off at each side of said opening, and exhaust connections from said ducts arranged at each side of said opening.

9. In a pottery drying stove, the combination comprising a pair of annular and concentrically arranged walls, means for rotating one of the walls relative vto the other, at least one annular shelf on the rotatable wall, said vshelf projecting into the space between the walls, and said shelf being adapted to support the articles to be dried. at least one air. duct having perforations in its bottom forming jets, said air duct being located above said annular support and projectingv into the space between the said annular walls, whereby air issuing from the jets travels downward directly on to or into the articles on the shelf, and means for supplying hot air to said duct.,

10. In a pottery drying stove, the combination comprising a pairof annular and concentrically arranged walls, means for rotating one of the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 552,667 Mote Jan. 7, 1896 2,089,783 Chace et al Aug. 10, 1937 Number Number Name Date Dykstra et al. Apr. 28, 1942 Allen Mar. 2, 1875 Duryea. et al. Jan, 3, 1888 Altman Apr. 9, 1889 Bates Feb. 1B, 1896 Dreffein Oct. 28, 1930 Webb May 23, 1933 Vogel June 3, 1902 Heaton Mar. 16, 1858 Rhoads Aug. 10, 1926 Baker MaI'. 8, 1938 Mayer Sept. 30, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1898 Great Britain -1898 Germany Mar. 16, 1932 

